Dan Walker's one word sums up public opinion after raw sewage is pumped into Sussex seas

The Sussex-born TV presenter posted one word on social media, in response to news shared by the BBC that beaches in East Sussex were closed after untreated wastewater was released into the sea at the shoreline.

People were advised to stay out of the sea and avoid beaches in Bexhill, Normans Bay and Hastings.

Southern Water said it was ‘very sorry’, blaming ‘significant issues with electrical power’ at one of its wastewater pumping stations.

5 News presenter Dan Walker, from Crawley, took to Twitter to share his frustration with the situation.

"Unbelievable,” was his one word response.

The tweet attracted hundreds of interactions, with the vast majority of people in uproar.

What happened?

The debacle began on Wednesday (August 17) when it came to light Southern Water had dumped sewage into eight bathing sites along the Sussex coast.

Within 24 hours, the water company discharged sewage in Pagham, Aldwick, Felpham, Littlehampton, Shoreham, Southwick, Saltdean and Seaford, sparking outrage.

Sussex MPs responded by demanding an end to ‘unacceptable’ sewage discharge along the coast in a letter to Southern Water and the Environment Agency.

By the time, sewage has been pumped into the sea along the Sussex coast at 17 beaches in 72 hours.

In some cases the discharge lasted for as long as five hours.

Data from Southern Water’s ‘Beachbuoy’ monitoring website suggests that releases took place in Southwick and Shoreham Beach for more than five and a half hours on Tuesday (August 16).

This came after heavy rain in West Sussex, with sewage also discharged into the sea from outfall pipes at Beach Green at Lancing.

What has Southern Water said about the incidents?

A statement issued by Southern Water explained that Tuesday’s thunder storms brought heavy rain, which ‘fell onto parched ground’ and ‘couldn’t absorb surface run-off’.

The water company said the rain ‘overwhelmed our network’, adding: “This led to some overflows – which are used to protect homes, schools, businesses and hospitals from flooding – spilling excess water into the sea in parts of West Sussex.

“These discharges are heavily diluted and typically 95 per cent of them are rainwater."

Last year the company was fined a record £90 million for dumping billions of litres of raw sewage into protected waters across a number of years.

A spokesperson added: “We are dedicated to significantly reducing storm overflows and are running innovative pilot schemes across the region to reduce the amount of rainfall entering our combined sewers by 2030.”

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